Newcastle's Steve Nickson sent to Wembley and London Stadium to scout players on international duty

Newcastle United head of recruitment Steve Nickson was spotted at Wembley and West Ham's London stadium on his latest scouting missions.

The Magpies scout was in attendance for England's 1-0 defeat to Brazil on Saturday night.

Newcastle stars Anthony Gordon and Bruno Guimaraes both featured in the game, but Nickson had his sights set on another talent.

According to The Chronicle, the former Blackburn scout was keeping tabs on Barcelona winger Raphinha.

The former Leeds United man has made just 12 starts for the Catalan side who may be forced to sell up due to their ongoing financial struggles.

Raphinha is expected to cost clubs £60million this summer so with Newcastle's FFP struggles they will most likely need to offload before making such an expensive deal.

There's no doubt that Raphinha's introduction to Newcastle would be massive for Eddie Howe's side. The Magpies' right-wing has been a position with a lack of firepower ever since the takeover. While other positions have been strengthened, Miguel Almiron has been a consistent figure in Howe's line-ups.

It's certainly a time for change at that part of the pitch, that change needs to come in the summer.

Nickson was also in attendance at the London Stadium on Friday for Columbia's defeat to Spain.

It is believed that Howe sent Nickson to the Hammers ground to watch Spanish full-back Alex Grimaldo.

Grimaldo impressed against Newcastle in the Eusabio Cup in 2022 where he scored a thunderous free-kick for Benfica on their way to a 3-2 win.

It may be difficult for Newcastle to attract him to join however, he joined Bayer Leverkusen in 2023 and has impressed under his Spanish Mentor Xabi Alonso during their title charge.